An international and interdisciplinary team of scientists, comprising Stefan Wuttke, Ikerbasque Research Professor at BCMaterials, and Steven Boxer from Stanford University (USA), has received a prestigious three-year
Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) Grant. The project aims to study and understand the physical basis of enzyme catalysis.
“Modeling electric fields at the heart of enzyme catalysis and function” is the name of this project that tries to find the reason why the enzyme’s active site allows slow and difficult chemical reactions to occur so rapidly. The project seeks to reconstruct enzymatic machinery and reproduce the extreme electric fields present in active sites using state-of-the-art supramolecular chemistry.
The Human Frontier Science Program is a unique funding initiative that promotes international collaboration in basic research focused on the elucidation of sophisticated and complex mechanisms of living organisms. The team lead by Stefan Wuttke, principal investigator, and Steven Boxer will receive 280,000 USD per year for three years to carry out their innovative and cutting-edge project.
A proof of the importance of Wuttke’s and Boxer’s project is the fact that only the 4% of the submitted projects receive funding from the HFSP program.
